The Contract
by LordByronMudkippington
Summary: Hanamaru isn't one to believe in the tall tales that Ruby tells her, especially when they come from Dia. To prove her point, she's more than happy to stay in the abandoned aquarium.


"No way. That didn't happen."

"It's true though!" Ruby whined, pouting at a disbelieving Hanamaru. "My big sis told me so!"

"And you believe everything Dia tells you?" Rolling her eyes, Hanamaru laid back on Ruby's bed and stared up at the ceiling. She usually was good-natured about the tall tales that her friend would tell, but this one took the cake. It really was unfair for Dia to prey on her little sister's naivety like this. "I'm a spiritual person, Ruby, you know I am, but I seriously doubt there are demons lurking around the city."

"She wouldn't lie to me!" Ruby crossed her arms, resolute. It wasn't often, but sometimes Hanamaru could see the Kurosawa stubbornness in Ruby. This was clearly one of those times. "Someone walked by the abandoned aquarium last week, and they heard the most unholy sounds coming from within! That's what my big sis said."

Hanamaru quirked an eyebrow. "And did this person actually _see_ anyone inside?"

"Well... no." Ruby interlaced her fingers nervously, having not been prepared for this. "B-But it sounded really scary! There's no way I would go in there!"

"Pfft, I would." It was a haughty boast, but there was nothing to be afraid of. There were no ghosts or demons wandering around the city. "I bet there's nothing but leaky pipes and creaky floors in that old place. Dia's just playing a trick on you."

"Sh-She wouldn't lie to me." Hanamaru doubted that severely. From all the times she had met Dia, she seemed like the type of person to tell someone a lie in order to scare them straight. Kind of like a mom.

"Whatever you say, Ruby, but there's nothing in that old aquarium. I promise you."

"Th-Then I... I dare you to stay there tonight!" That caught Hanamaru off guard. It was very unlike Ruby to dare someone to do anything. Heck, she seemed terrified even voicing it aloud, but Hanamaru wasn't scared. In fact, she was a bit excited. Not only would she get to show Ruby how brave she was, but she'd also get to rub it in Dia's face when she proved that there was no demon in the city.

Still, that would be an entire night spent in a boring, empty aquarium with absolutely nothing to do. On top of that, she would have to lie to her parents about where she would be. She needed some incentive. "Hmm, I dunno... I'd probably need something in return in order to waste my night on that. What can you offer me?"

Ruby tapped her chin in thought. "Uhm... I-I can... let you watch my sister shower?"

"... Okay deal." Maybe Dia could be a big pain in the butt, but she was also very attractive. It was a worthwhile reward, to be honest. At that moment though, the sister in question just happened to poke her nosy self into the room.

"What are you two up to?" There was something about Dia that Hanamaru didn't like. Maybe it was the fact that her smile always seemed so condescending, or that she didn't even try to hide her disdain for Hanamaru. Whatever the reason, it bothered her greatly. It made her want to play connect the dots with Dia's stupid beauty mark.

"N-Nothing!" Ruby answered immediately, cowed by her sister's authoritarian air. Hanamaru, however, just shrugged non-commitantly. Dia's smile curled into a frown for a moment, but she had barely noticed it before it returned to its normal condescending curve.

"Has Ruby told you about the demon of the aquarium, by chance?"

"She might have." She didn't really feel like being cooperative with Dia. If it perturbed Dia though, she didn't show it.

"Then you know of the horrible things it does to those who dare enter its domain." The room seemed to grow colder at her words, and Ruby started to shiver with fright. "One poor sap who went in there one night never returned. When his friends went to look for him the next morning, all they found was his shoes."

"Give it a rest, Dia." This was getting out of hand. She didn't like seeing Ruby so frightened. "You're scaring Ruby."

"Am I not scaring you too?"

"Not a chance." Hanamaru stuck her nose up at the accusation. "In fact, I'm going to be staying in that aquarium tonight just to prove you wrong."

"How brave of you." Dia smirked, leaning down to make better eye contact. "In that case, stay safe, Hamtaro." Hanamaru scowled, hating the unflattering nickname Dia had bestowed upon her. Just because she ate a _little_ different than everyone else...

Rather than get into an argument, she just stuck her tongue out before pointedly turning away. Tomorrow morning, she'd get to laugh in Dia's face. The thought made her smile.

* * *

As the sun disappeared below the horizon, Hanamaru stole through the night, backpack slung over her shoulder. In it was a flashlight, a book for when she inevitably got bored, and a few snacks in case she got hungry. The aquarium came into view, bringing a confident smirk to her face. This was going to be too easy.

Originally a prosperous attraction, the sheer amount of other aquariums, plus various other aquatic locales, drove it out of business. All the sea creatures were moved elsewhere, the employees were laid off, and the building was left abandoned. There had been talks of demolishing it, but for now nothing was set in stone. So there it stood, empty and abandoned. The ghost stories practically wrote themselves.

Though hearing about the 'demon of the aquarium' from Ruby was a first, she had heard a few ghost stories about the place before. Just your standard fare: an employee died there and was haunting the grounds, or ghostly fish still swam in invisible water, waiting for curious students to walk in to frighten them. It was all hogwash, pure and simple.

Yellow police tape had lined the door, but people kept going there and ripping it down to get inside. No matter how many times it was put back up, someone would inevitably tear it down, so eventually the police gave up. When she tried to open the door, it swung open without resistance. Apparently no one was too interested in keeping people out. That suited her, though. It meant she didn't have to break a window and risk cutting herself on the glass.

Once she entered, she closed the door to avoid suspicion. Then she reached into her backpack and pulled out her flashlight. With a click, a bright beam of light shone over the dusty floor. She moved past the information desk, humming quietly to herself. There wasn't anywhere she was supposed to go specifically, at least not according to the bet, but she figured that she might as well explore. After all, what else was there to do? Holding the flashlight tightly in her hand, she began to walk around, the light gliding lazily over a bunch of empty display cases. It must've been nice to come here at one point.

As she continued to walk, the sound of something falling to the floor echoed throughout the building. It nearly made Hanamaru drop her flashlight, but she kept her grip on it just in time. Now she just needed to get a grip in general. Hadn't she already mentioned leaky pipes and creaky floors before? That must've been it. Nobody would be crazy enough to come here. Well, except for her.

Laughing off the noise, she decided to sit down where she stood, leaning her back against a display and pulling out her book to read. However, it didn't take long before her eyes began to become heavy, making concentrating on what she was reading very difficult. That was fine though. Sleeping would make the morning come quicker, and then she could get back home. Smiling at the thought of her reward for completing the dare, Hanamaru stowed her book away and flicked off the flashlight. She pulled her backpack close to her and closed her eyes. Soon she was asleep.

A loud crashing noise woke her right back up. Blinking sleepily, Hanamaru jolted up as another crash rang in her ears. "H-Huh? Wha-?" Was she dreaming? While rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, a third crash brought her back to reality: it was not a dream. She was barely able to grab her flashlight before she bolted for the exit, abandoning her bag by the display. When she turned her flashlight back on, she nearly slammed face first into another display. She had to hit the brakes to avoid running into it. Hadn't this been the way to the exit?

The flashlight shook in her hands as panic started to set in, but she forced herself to remain calm. Running around blindly was only going to get her more lost. Besides, it was probably just Dia being a jerk. She had probably come down to the aquarium in order to scare Hanamaru. Yeah, that had to be it. "Dia, I know it's you!" Her shouts echoed off the walls, but no one responded. "It's not going to work, you know! You can't scare me!"

The complete silence that had enveloped the entire building did scare her though. It was hard to deny it from the shaking of her legs and the chattering of her teeth. She began to try and find her way out again, but it seemed like all of the display cases were closing in on her. There was no way the exit could just disappear, but no matter how hard she looked, it wasn't there.

After what felt like hours, salvation was finally found. Hanamaru breathed a shaky sigh of relief when her flashlight shined upon a door. It was the exit: she was free! Her walking slowed to a stop, however, her flashlight bathing the exit in yellow. What was she doing? By leaving, she would lose the bet, all because Dia was playing a trick on her. Well that wasn't how this was going to go down. Maybe Dia could do this to Ruby, but it wouldn't work on her.

Suddenly, the yellow light dimmed to a deep crimson, startling Hanamaru. Well, maybe that would work. With a shout of fright, she dropped the flashlight. It rolled across the floor and hit the wall, shutting off permanently.

The total darkness that followed was temporary, as the hallway leading to the exit was soon bathed in an eerie orange glow. It became so intense that Hanamaru had to shield her eyes from it. When it seemed that the light had abated, she opened her eyes to find someone standing in front of her. She wanted to express shock, surprise, anything, but she could only stare wide-eyed, numbed and frozen.

"Looks like another foolish mortal has wandered into the domain of the great and powerful Yohane." The demon was female, with hair of the sea and eyes that flitted strangely between pink and red. Hanamaru couldn't believe it: it was true. There was a demon here. She couldn't even say anything, as her tongue felt like it was frozen to the roof of her mouth. This was impossible. It was impossible. How could this be happening?

"Do you know why a powerful demon such as myself likes to come here?" She didn't know, but she couldn't say anything anyway. Not like that mattered, since the demon was going to continue regardless of what she said. "This was the first aquarium in all of Japan to house the mighty coelacanth. It's the most demonic fish in the sea, did you know that?" The demon seemed to be looking at something beyond Hanamaru, and when she got herself to turn and see what it was, her jaw dropped.

One of the displays wasn't so empty anymore. It was completely filled with water, and swimming inside it were three ugly-looking fish, all of them looking at her with one eye. It sent chills down her spine. "They may be Yohane's faithful servants of the deep, but a demon such as myself would never live underwater." Hanamaru turned back around and gulped nervously. It seemed like the demon had drawn closer.

"I require... _human_ servants." There was a hungry look in her eyes, and instinctively Hanamaru took a step back, but she didn't move. Her feet were rooted to the floor. The demon didn't seem that much taller than her - maybe four centimeters - but she felt minuscule as Yohane got closer and closer, until she could feel the demon's hellish breath on her trembling skin. "Are you prepared to be Yohane's little demon, child?"

"N-N-No." Finally she was able to speak, but her voice shook terribly. It didn't seem to phase Yohane either, as the demon just laughed and grabbed Hanamaru roughly by the shoulders. Their eyes were locked together, and she watched as those pinkish hues turned a blood red.

"It is time to sign your contract, child. You shall become Yohane's faithful servant!" She laughed cruelly as pain spiked through Hanamaru's body. She screamed, but no one would ever hear her. Her body spasmed terribly, yet she didn't move an inch. Her vision was filtered through shades of red, and then it all went black.

* * *

When the morning sun rose, Dia purposefully strode towards the abandoned aquarium. Glancing left and right to make sure there were no onlookers, she pushed open the door and went inside. As she closed the door, her eyes were drawn to a lonely flashlight lying against the wall. With a slight smirk, she prepared to keep walking, but her ears perked up at the sound of footsteps behind her.

"Looks like another foolish mortal has wandered into-"

"Oh give it a rest, Yohane." Dia turned towards the grinning demon, slapping her palms together. "You know I haven't been mortal since we signed our contract."

"Of course, of course." The two of them stood facing one another. "Once again my most faithful servant brings me the perfect human for my army of little demons." Dia chuckled quietly, turning around to head deeper into the aquarium. There had always been a rift between Hanamaru and herself, but it seemed that perhaps the rift would be closed after all.

It didn't take long for her to find Hanamaru's abandoned backpack. So Yohane had gotten the job done after all. There didn't seem to be a trace of the girl anywhere: she could feel it. Satisfied, she walked back towards the exit, where the demon was still standing. "What are you going to tell your little sister?" She knew that Yohane didn't actually care about the feelings of mortals, but it was a question that needed to be addressed.

"Hmm... I guess that the demon must have gotten her." The two of them laughed together, their eyes glowing a deep red. Then Yohane disappeared, and Dia began to walk back home, humming cheerfully to herself. Today was going to be a good day.


End file.
